Can Virginia Tech return to normal?

Tuesday

Apr 24, 2007 at 12:44 AM

BY CARYN ROUSSEAUTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Monday morning saw thousands of Virginia Tech faculty and staff gather for a memorial to last week's shooting victims. Bells tolled. A violin played. They chanted, "Let's go Hokies."
Then they returned to class, or to the computer lab, or to the library for the first time since the shootings last week.
But how difficult will that return be? How do you get back to a routine after it's been interrupted by such a horrible tragedy? What will students' reactions be as they pass by Norris Hall, the scene of most of the bloodshed, on their way across campus?
Asap asked trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder experts to help answer the question: Is normal possible again in Blacksburg?

While the idea of facing campus now might be too much for some Virginia Tech students, psychologists say that the sooner they get back into their routines, the better.
"Resumption of routines is actually very healthy," says Scott Poland, a psychologist at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, who has helped in the wake of nearly a dozen school shootings. "My advice always is reopen the school."
Resuming usual daily activities could help the students feel as if they are part of a community, experts say. Julian Ford, a psychologist at the University of Connecticut who specializes in post-traumatic stress disorder, says it is good that Virginia Tech offered students the option of returning to classes or ending their semesters.
"When you get back to the routine, then you realize that, even though something terrible has happened, it doesn't mean you're not safe," Ford said. "It doesn't mean you can't figure out what's happened and go on with your life."
And for those students who choose to stay home?
"Not going back is fine, because they may want to go on with their life doing other things," Ford said. "Maybe they need to do more personal grieving and that's a healthy way to go on with life as well."

There will be both physical and mental reactions as students and faculty return to campus in Blacksburg, says Deborah Serani, a psychologist from Smithtown, N.Y., who specializes in trauma and depression. They could experience chest pain, headaches or sweating or they might feel rage or helplessness, she said.
Ford says these reactions are acute stress, which isn't the same as having post-traumatic stress disorder.
"It does take some time and usually when you go back to a place of a dramatic shock the body and the emotions have to recalibrate," Ford said. "But that's normal and healthy.
"If the sense of stress persists for as much as a month and really gets in the way of doing important activities like being able to study and finish school, then and only then might it be a PTSD."
There's no timeline for complete healing, Serani says.
"Recovery should occur at a unique rate for each individual," she said. "So for someone who may have sensitive tendencies, who may have a very compassionate outlook on life, they may struggle with the trauma, so their recovery may take longer. Those who say, 'Well, didn't happen to me. Yeah, it happened on campus, but it didn't happen to me.' That's not to say that person is heartless. It's to say their coping is different."
Poland says one of the best things professors could do on the first day of classes since the tragedy is to talk about their experiences last week.
"Put the desks in a circle," Poland said. "Let's talk about what happened. Everyone has a story to tell."

Serani, who has worked with survivors of the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York, says returning to routine after that tragedy has similarities with the Blacksburg massacre - but also differences.
The Virginia Tech shootings are likely a more secluded event than the Sept. 11 attacks, she said.
"It has touched the nation, but it may not touch the world the way that the 9/11 attacks did," she said. "Maybe the secludedness, the insular experience of this tragedy may help the community heal."
The similarities?
"It's similar in that people have to return to a particular place that is of importance," she said, mentioning something called "anticipatory anxiety" - not knowing how a person will react when they do return. "One could say it is striking against innocent people - in that it's similar, which leaves people feeling just a sense of confusion. Why? Why did this happen?"
Making sense of violence can help in recovery, she said, but not always.
"'Why' is sometimes not the pursuit of healing," Serani said. "It's what can you do to find your grounding and center and safety again."